Trying to decide if I'm ready for a dog

Are you willing to walk the dog every day? Some breeds needs a lot of exercise.

Will you be having children or do you have kids? Some breeds don't *mix* well with kids.

My SO thinks our apt is too dirty for a puppy (old NYC brownstone that hasn't been renovated in a long time). She thinks its too germy or something. Does that make any sense? I think a crappy apt is perfect for housebreaking and other puppy craziness.

Money is perhaps an issue. Anyone have an estimate for costs associated with a small dog?

As long as your puppy is vaccinated and gets regular boosters and is wormed and de-flea'd a couple of times a year, it won't care what state your apartment is in. The only drawback is that older, less shiny surfaces are harder to clean poo off.

That's great - like a Belle and Sebastian song - xpost.

There are several reasons why I may not be the best candidate for dog ownership, but I sure do want one. I think I'll sit on the idea for a few months.

also, some lady in first class had a basset puppy in her purse on the return flight. he was so tiny! he wanted hugs!

i want a dog, dammit. or a cat.

But the first year that I had him, it was really rough. I remember sitting in my kitchen after he'd puked all over my living room rug & wondering how I was going to manage. I think my exact thoughts were "christ, I made it all the way through college just fine, and through my first months of my first job just fine, and 3 pounds of fuzz are defeating me." I'm sure a lot of new dog owners go through that, but I felt like a failure. So worth sticking with it, though. I brought him to dog training, learned to not leave human food where he could reach it & puke it up, and generally adapted. Owning a dog is the greatest thing ever- you get so much love from them.

http://static.flickr.com/23/32487184_c2a426e9e8.jpg

... Keep in mind that bassets are one of the most stubborn dogs around. We still have one left - the other died over two years ago - and she's one stubborn bitch. But I love her to bits.

In regard to puppies: they are a lot of work. We slept in the living room, next to the dog, because one of the dogs was very sick. He pulled through though. But yeah puppies are a lot of work. Once they're grown up, it gets easier.

Will you be training the dog? We tried but the teacher said it wasn't really worth the hassle as our bassets were much too stubborn.

I think if you'll leave your dogs alone for hours on end, then it's not really worth it.

My dog died at fifteen last year. Having him ended up having a much larger effect on my life than I would've thought. I ended up travelling by car all the time and only going places I could get to that way. When he was young we were out in the sticks so I didn't have to tie him up or walk him with a leash. When he was 4 we lived in NYC and he didn't need a leash (he felt safer close to me anyway). I only hit him 3 times in his life: once when he killed a chicken (we lived on a farm); the first time he ran into the road; and when he took food out of my 2-tear-old daughter's hand. He never did any of those things again. He learned not to beg because we'd reward him for not bothering us at the ends of meals. My friends passively taught their dog over a hundred words, by saying the words when the dog did whatever it was: when it sat they said sit, when it barked they said bark, stuff like that, then when they'd say the word the dog would do it. Cool.

The good food is worth the expense. I always gave him natural (not Purina Chow) food and he didn't have tumors like most old dogs get.

As for the germy apt, dogs have incredible immune systems. Their saliva is kind of antibiotic. If you have to paper train just put the turds on the paper and the dog will figure out the drill pretty quickly. Don't spank them or any of that, they don't want to live in shit any more than you do. As for children, almost any dog will want to love and protect any that come along, even pitbulls love their families' babies. Almost any environment is good for them if they know what's expected of them and all that. Their greatest skill is their adaptability, but they have to adapt when they're young. It's sort of true about not teaching old dogs new tricks. They're very linear in how they learn. When they're young they have a lot of energy and need roughhousing and play. Bored puppies can be very destructive.

Dogs also like routines, they like knowing what happens next (walk after food etc.) it makes them feel secure and that makes them behave well. They really want to co-operate, they've evolved for that, and if their humans understand them a little they'll be great friends and comrades. They don't like, or respond positively, to yelling.

They get over hardships like long trips very quickly. My mom always said they didn't have the same sense of time as us, so the past is just the past to them and they aren't much interested in it.

I worked in kennels when I was in high school and have been around dogs and other critters most of my life. The English lady ("Walkies!") who says there aren't any bad dogs (only foolish owners) is right.

The big advantage to rescue dogs over puppies (apart from your own sense of well-being at saving a dog's life) is that they are eternally grateful to you.

the one we got is a heeler/Aus. shepherd mix. Smart dog which means she gets bored very easily. And she's only a year and 7 months which means she has way too much energy.

As you can tell I'm more of a cat person and was pushing for a lazier dog like a lab or something.